Eventually I bought another copy. This time I read most of it on another train.... the journey went very fast, as did 16 year-old Paul Cooper's journey in the story. It mostly takes place over a few short days and is gripping.
Paul is naively obsessed with birds, his favourite bird changes but is currently the raven, he's a bit of a twitcher and has his lists, but he's much more imaginative than most. He has just started at a new school, because his mum has decided they need to move house, again. There are always problems starting at a new school, exacerbated when you are sixteen. But soon there's a school trip, to the Tower of London, where there are ravens. I won't tell more of the story than this, no spoilers, read the book.
The narrative is in Paul's point of view and very much inside his head. It's an interesting kind of coming of age story, with action, birds, murder, birds, car chases, birds, drugs and girls, well a girl and more birds.
Ok, I will say a bit more about the birds. I like birds. I'm a bit of a birder myself, but I just think that in this particular story there are too many throw-away birds. Concentrating on fewer species maybe would have been more engrossing for me, each new species mentioned was a distraction. And fewer species of bird would certainly be less confusing for any reader who doesn't know her jackdaw from her jackass.
But confusion is part of the plot, so hey-ho!
King Crow is a damn good read, read it!
